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Composer Marvin Hamlisch Dead at 68

Oscar-winning composer Marvin Hamlisch has died in Los Angeles at age 68.

A family spokesman tells the Associated Press that Hamlisch passed away Monday after a brief illness. Additional details were not immediately available.

Hamlisch -- who composed the scores for dozens of movies including The Sting, starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford in 1973,and Barbra Streisand's The Way We Were the same year -- won three Academy Awards, four Emmys a Tony and three Golden Globes. He also won the Pulitzer Prize in 1976 for the long-running Broadway hit A Chorus Line.

The last film score he wrote was in 2009 for Steven Soderbergh's film The Informant! starring Matt Damon. His latest musical, The Nutty Professor, recently debuted in Nashville.

In a statement, Streisand said she was "devastated" by the loss of her friend. "The world will remember Marvin for his brilliant musical accomplishments, from A Chorus Line to The Way We Were, and so many others, but when I think of him now, it was his brilliantly quick mind, his generosity, and delicious sense of humor that made him a delight to be around."

Former First Lady Nancy Reagan also expressed her condolences to Hamlisch's wife Terre Blair and said she was "stunned by his death" at such a young age. "During our time at the White House, he entertained at many events – he even let me sing with him a few times, but luckily his piano music drowned out my voice!" she said in a statement. "And I’ll never forget that he wrote a special song for Ronnie’s surprise 77th birthday party in 1988."